Are Maggots in Dogs Contagious?

If you have an open wound, it is possible for the maggots on your dog to infect your wound, according to the Dogged Health website. Maggots are immature flies that have just come out of an egg (fly larvae). They make their home on your dog's tissue and eat it and are generally the outcome of some underlying wound or infection that your dog has.

  1. Maggots Occasionally Infect Humans

    • Botflies or maggots occasionally infect humans by invading human tissue. The botfly's hatched larvae gains entrance to the host through cuts in the skin, nasal openings and the mouth. This happens generally late in the summer and occurs outside where the adult flies are in abundance. The nasal botfly larvae is capable of infecting the eyes or humans, according to the University of Northern British Columbia.

    Myiasis

    • When a dog has a maggot infestation this is called myiasis. Dogs that have urine- or fecal- stained coats or bacterial skin infections or who have moist skin because they are outside all the time are at risk of acquiring maggots.The human botfly (D hominis) is the most common cause of cutaneous myiasis, which occurs in South and Central America.

    How Dogs Get Infected and the Symptoms

    • Dogs get infected when they come into contact with grass that has maggots on it. When the dog moves against the grass this prompts the maggot to crawl onto the dog. The maggot then gets busy trying to find an orifice on the dog in which to enter. The lump in the skin that the maggot causes is called a warble. There is an opening in the lump so that the maggot can breathe. When the larvae migrate in the dog's skin tissue, this can cause him to experience respiratory problems, eye lesions and neurological symptoms. He may experience shortness of breath a cough and fever. He may get dizzy, turn in circles, become paralyzed and blind. If your dog isn't treated, he can die.

    Puppies

    • Puppies can be infected by their mothers by coming into contact with the larvae that is brought home on the fur of their mothers. If the adult dog is in an environment where botflies proliferate, such as in a yard where there are a lot of rabbits or rodents, she is apt to contract this parasite.